(L–R) Zawe Ashton, Charlie Cox, and Tom Hiddleston (Photo: Marc Brenner)
Three
terrific leading actors making their Broadway debuts and a fine director’s new
perspective on an old play DOES make a difference. But, what a bummer how
disappointing that the mutual sexual dalliances in “Betrayal” don’t seem as important,
icily fun, or simply as seductive as they did way back in 1980. As a matter of
fact, and perhaps more interestingly is how the impact of the basic plot contrivance
has been affected by time. Harold Pinter’s play of interlocking affairs has
been deservedly afforded its due attention over the years and most recently with
all the bells and whistles on Broadway with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz.
At
the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater under the direction of Jamie Lloyd, this
production that originated on London has made the transatlantic journey with
all of Pinter’s wonderfully worn-out and wearisome emotional, intellectual, and
conjugal betrayals. They are practiced by a quartet (one unseen) of rather
superficial lovers, and have been duly presented from end to start (to use the
play’s conceit).
However,
it is the grim banality of the long dull affair between the play’s principal
lovers Jerry and Emma that should provoke what we seem to like best about
Pinter. Oddly, it doesn’t. It is only the gorgeously minimalist staging, spot-on
direction and splendid performances that save the play this time around.
As
their story devolves in two-steps backward and one-step forward flashback
scenes, the mostly understated affair begins within the stunningly bare scene-scape
designed by Soutra Gilmour that does more than you can imagine to inform the
actions’ various locations. Soon enough we learn that Emma, an art-gallery
owner who has not been Jerry’s lover for the past two years, is currently
having an affair with a writer named Casey.
From
this retrospective point, the play sets out its sequence of scenes backward to
the point where Jerry first makes a pass at Emma, his best friend’s wife during
a party. For Pinter aficionados, the play offers his typical gift of minimalist
phrases in a text that expectedly ripples with rhythmic cadences. Happily Britishers
Zawe Ashton as Emma, Charlie Cox as Jerry and Tom Hiddleston are conspicuously and
irretrievably tuned into the oblique use of language that distinguishes British
society.
Discreetly
breathtaking (if there is such a thing) with every well calculated movement, Ashton
is a standout as the rather careless wife who thinks she has managed to keep
her husband from learning of seven years of afternoon trysts with his best friend.
The Pinter-perfect scene in which Robert confronts Emma in a Venice hotel room
is wonderfully chilling and paradoxically comical. As Robert, Hiddleston has
one his many fine moments when he goads and baits Emma with an incriminating
letter whose contents could bring a calamitous end to their relationships. Robert’s lines to Emma: “To be
honest I’ve always liked Jerry rather more than I’ve like you,” followed by “Maybe
I should have had an affair with him myself,” hints at the kind of
homoeroticism that Pinter incorporates into his more sinister plays such as “No
Man’s Land” and “The Homecoming.” But his use of such lines leads neither to
dramatic incrimination nor recrimination but rather suggests a sly homage to
Noel Coward.
What
is most curious about this Pinter work is its short but non-enigmatic course.
With its rather pedestrian pursuits, “Betrayal” makes me think how much fun it
can be to wallow in someone else’s impetuously amoral behavior. The idea of watching
lives run backward is, of course, a clever (if not totally original) device and
one that this play sorely needs. While we do know how things will turn out, how
much more involving the play would be if we cared just a whit about these people
and what went wrong or right.
There
is something to be said for watching a play and coming away feeling smug and
superior. The entire production, with its stunning lighting by Jon Clark and the
attire by Gilmour (no time for changes thank you) aims to feel smug and superior.
It is not a problem in this case. The only problem is mine with the play.
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